The Raven Queen, page 32
part #2 of Storyweaver Series
Lan wanted nothing to do with that.
“That’s a strange reaction for someone who has been through what you have,” Jalyn said.
Lan could only look at her. How could that be a strange reaction? How could anything that he did or said now be strange compared to the kind of thing she implied? He had gone through quite a bit in Lorant, but he’d gotten away. More than that, it wasn’t as if the people of Lorant had been at fault.
Something felt off, though Lan wasn’t sure what it was. “I need to find my sister.”
“You can’t abandon your assignment.”
“I’ll catch up to you.” At least, he could on foot, he now believed, but even if not on foot, his horse had returned, and Joralt had proven that he was incredibly swift.
“Don’t do anything that’s going to make them question you anymore.”
“I’m not going to. I just need to talk to Sophie. I need to understand something that we saw.”
Jalyn watched him for a moment. “Do it quickly.”
Lan headed through the city. Everything seemed surprisingly quiet. Maybe it was just that there weren’t any soldiers present in the barracks, and that everything felt off there, or perhaps it was that the streets were far emptier than he was accustomed to. It was as if the people had been told to stay off the streets. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was.
Lan made his way toward the tower. He had been in the city for a few years and had only visited Sophie in the tower a few times. He reached the entrance, noticing that it was unguarded, and headed inside, making his way toward the stairs. There was pressure upon him, which strangely reminded him of the thisten.
He climbed slowly, reaching a window where he could look out. The Taihg and other soldiers were all arranged for the attack. Lan should be there, only he felt he needed to be here for Sophie. Conflicting emotions filled him. He should be down with the Taihg.
When a rumbling echoed through the tower, he knew what he needed to do. He raced up the stairs, following the strange sense that he felt, the strange sound that he heard, but it faded to nothing. He paused at another window, looking down once again upon the soldiers preparing for departure.
“It’s impressive, isn’t it?”
Lan turned and saw Nevarn behind him. “Nevarn. I’m looking for Sophie.”
“I’m sure that you are,” he said.
Nevarn headed down the stairs, meeting Lan. “I’m surprised that you made it back so soon. It’s really too bad.”
“Too bad?”
“I care about your sister.”
Lan was confused by the sudden change of topic, and he nodded. “I’ve gotten that sense from you. I realize that you care about her.”
“I care about her, but I can’t allow her to delay my plans for Lorant. It’s necessary, as I imagine you understand.”
Lan could only shake his head. “There’s nothing necessary about it. We don’t need to attack Lorant.”
“You came from Lorant. How could you believe that we don’t need to attack? The people there are willing to do anything to us.”
Lan shook his head. “Most of the people within Lorant don’t understand what those in power intend.”
Nevarn smiled at him. “If only I could believe that.”
“Where is Sophie?”
Nevarn’s gaze flicked toward the upper levels of the tower. “She’s safe.”
“What did you do with the thisten’s head?”
“Why?”
“Where is it?”
Nevarn turned toward him, crossing his arms. “I would advise you to be careful with how you speak to your prince.”
Lan took a step back. The energy within him continued to glow, creating a warmth that washed over him. That warmth pulsated, radiating from him. It was the gift of the Heart of the Grove, and it flowed through him, through his sword. Lan was aware of it in a way that he hadn’t been before. More than that, he was aware that an energy tried to counter him.
It came from Nevarn.
“What happened to you?” Lan asked.
“Happened? Why, nothing happened.” Nevarn grinned at Lan.
Lan took a step back, holding his sword. There wasn’t much space on the landing. He could either go up the stairs or try to push past Nevarn and head down the stairs.
The prince watched Lan. It was as if he was aware of the battle waging within Lan’s mind. “I would caution you about your choice here,” Nevarn said. “I can see you debating what to do.”
Nevarn unsheathed his sword. Lan retreated up two steps.
Nevarn sensed Lan’s hesitation. “I’ve been training since I was two,” Nevarn said. “I imagine you and I have shared sword masters over the years.”
Nevarn laughed. It was a dark sound, a sound Lan remembered from the recent journey out of the city before. There was something within it that he recognized. With a dawning understanding, he knew what had happened.
Nevarn had been tainted. It was the same thing he had felt from the thisten.
Lan remembered what he had seen when the prince had been captured. The people surrounding him had been pouring some liquid on him. Not water, something tainted, Lan was certain. They must have known what it would do to him.
The same way that water had corrupted his sister.
Would it have corrupted him?
“I can help you,” Lan said.
“What makes you think that I need any help?”
“You’ve been touched by the Shavln.”
Lan was certain that was what this was.
How had his sister been around Nevarn and not known? She was the one that was so attuned to the Shavln, and he believed that if anyone would know about someone being influenced by the Shavln, it would be Sophie—only she hadn’t recognized it. She had traveled with Nevarn, and she still hadn’t known.
Unless she did.
Lan swung his blade to counter Nevarn’s attack. The prince was incredibly skilled, but it was more than just the way that he fought. Nevarn was somehow using his ability, the darkness that he’d been touched by, to combat Lan.
Lan tried something different.
He thought about the way that he had fought the thisten. Lan turned his sword, drawing on the energy within it, and twisted that power, letting it flow from him toward Nevarn. The white light that he’d been drawing on surged free.
Nevarn growled. The sound reminded Lan of the thisten.
“I’m… stronger. Does that scare you?”
“What scares me is that I should have listened to Sophie.”
“Your sister believes there is a dark power in the world. Even my mother didn’t believe that.”
“Your mother made a mistake.”
Nevarn grinned at him. “Yes. She did.”
The prince darted toward Lan.
Pale energy exploded away from Lan.
When it gushed toward Nevarn, he cried out. Lan used that moment. He darted forward, swinging his blade. He couldn’t fight with the same freedom as he had with the thisten. In this case, he had to find a way to incapacitate Nevarn, not kill him.
Lan feinted an attack, twisting, and then he drove his heel toward Nevarn.
When it connected, the prince stumbled back.
His eyes widened slightly, and he growled. Considerable power emanated from him.
Nevarn surprised him by darting backward down the stairs.
Lan hesitated. What had Nevarn meant when he had agreed that his mother had made a mistake?
There was something more taking place, something that Lan needed to better understand. The only way he could was by finding Sophie. She would know. She had to. And if he couldn’t…
If he couldn’t, they might not be fast enough.
Chapter 33
SOPHIE
Sophie could feel the power flowing out and away from her and wondered how long she’d be able to maintain this connection. Distantly she felt something pushing against her barrier, even as she released the pose. It was a strange sensation, and one that left Sophie wondering if she was even feeling it correctly.
Parvella had gone to see if she could stop the thisten, but was there anything she could do?
Sophie doubted that Parvella would be able to manage on her own. Sophie would need to help. She had some experience with the thisten, after all, and she knew where Nevarn had taken its head.
That is, if he had left it there.
Why wouldn’t she have heard more about the thisten in the time that she’d been back in the city, though? If he had raised the issue with the Taihg, shouldn’t there be some concern about the kind of creature that they might have to face, rather than a drive to take the soldiers out of Valan?
Which was what they were doing now.
In the distance, the Taihg soldiers marched away from the city. Nevarn was probably among them, leading them to Lorant.
And then what?
Sophie wasn’t sure what would happen then. War, she thought.
The hard part for her was she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She had grown up outside the war, in a land that had not been a part of it but had been touched by it through the loss of her parents. Sophie had never truly learned the truth of what had happened to them. She had only been told that they had been lost due to the war. Whenever she had asked her grandparents about it, she had not gotten consistent answers. Perhaps that should bother her, though what really bothered her was never knowing the truth about her nana and the kind of magic that she’d obviously had. Was that the reason for the stories?
Whenever she had tried to talk to any Karell about her grandmother, she’d not found anyone who knew anything. Oleda had been the closest to Sophie, and she hadn’t shared anything, most likely because she had not known anything.
Sophie sighed and turned away from the edge of the tower. She wasn’t able to determine anything dangerous. She had placed the barrier that Parvella had wanted, and now…
Now Sophie didn’t know whether she could do anything more. She wasn’t going to be able to create any more barriers, as the amount of power in the one she had created seemed to be considerable. What she really needed to do was find out what else Parvella might do. Maybe she knew something more.
She headed down through the tower, checking on the Raven Queen’s level, but didn’t find anything. The hallways were empty. She checked for Parvella but didn’t see her. When she reached her level, she was tempted to go to her room, but there was nothing there for her. Besides, she didn’t feel she could sit and rest, not with everything that had been taking place.
She headed down a few more levels and paused on Dannith’s level.
He was in the hallway. She saw a pair of guards behind him but didn’t recognize either man. There were several others behind them, which surprised her. Then again, if something was taking place in the city, maybe the Raven Queen had left orders that Dannith was to be protected.
Dannith was dressed in a black jacket and pants, though different from the ones she’d last seen him in. He had a long cane in one hand, and it looked as if he was holding it carefully, ready for some sort of attack, possibly.
“You shouldn’t be here, Sophie.”
Sophie frowned. “You know that something’s going on?”
He tapped his cane, glancing behind him for a moment before turning his attention back to her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that you shouldn’t be here. My sources have told me that significant events are taking place. It’s a dangerous time.”
“Sources?” Sophie took a step toward him and began to focus on one of her poses, though she wasn’t willing to use any magic against Dannith. She liked him, and she didn’t think that Dannith was responsible for what was happening. But then, he did seem to know more than he should. And if he were responsible…
Sophie didn’t like the thought that he might have something to do with what was happening, but what other explanation could there be?
“Are you responsible for this?”
He shook his head. “I’m not responsible for anything. I just know that significant events are taking place, and it is dangerous to be out. You should go back to your room.”
“I can’t do that. Parvella needs me to help. When I told her about the thisten—”
Dannith darted toward her, faster than she would have expected. “About the what?”
There was real intensity in his voice. “A creature that I encountered while I was outside of the city. It’s called a thisten.” She looked at him, frowning. “And you know about them.”
He nodded slowly. “I have heard of them. They are rumors, nothing more than that.”
“Well, unfortunately, these are more than rumors. More than stories. Although they would’ve made a good story when I was younger.”
Her nana had rarely told her stories about creatures, though. Maybe that was because she hadn’t wanted to scare Sophie, or maybe it was because some of those stories would have been too close to the truth. Then again, her nana had always viewed stories as having some basis in truth, as that was the key to what a person could take from a story.
“Where did you see them?”
“In Devlar Forest.”
Dannith squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, tapping his cane. There seemed to be a strange rhythm to the way that he did. “That’s why you spoke about the forest.”
Sophie nodded.
Dannith breathed out heavily, glancing behind him again. “You shouldn’t be a part of this, Sophie. You are not fully trained, and you are definitely not prepared for the kinds of dangers that exist in this world.”
She arched a brow at him. “And you are?”
Dannith looked as if he wanted to argue with her, but he spread his hands, still holding the cane upright. “Not prepared, and not a part of it. In fact, I am trapped here in the tower, which is where you should stay. It’s safer that way.”
“I’m afraid that I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
“Stay away from the edge of the city,” Dannith said.
“Why? What do you know?”
“Just do it, Sophie.”
“I…”
Sophie trailed off as she felt something on the barrier.
It was strange that she would still be connected to it, as she was not holding her pose any longer. Still, she felt some aspect of the barrier linking to her, connecting to her in a way that she had not expected. A sliver of energy lingered in her, such that the barrier was somehow tethered to her. Perhaps that was because she had pushed so much power out.
“Sophie?”
“I’m sorry, Dannith. I have to go.”
“Please stay here,” he said.
Sophie looked over at him. “You should go back to your room. You don’t have any power of your own. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
She meant it.
Sophie hesitated, and then she wrapped him in a quick hug before spinning and heading down the stairs. She heard Dannith calling after her, but she wasn’t willing to listen. If there was something happening in the city, she needed to take a look, if only so that she could figure out why she felt some pressure on the barrier. Parvella had to be active somewhere. She had gone looking for the thisten, though maybe she was still in the tower.
As she stepped outside, a cool breeze struck her. The air smelled of the garden, the floral fragrances striking her with a sweetness that she wished she had time to appreciate. Once outside, she was far more attuned to the strange barrier that she had placed around the city. She could still feel it, the dome-like shield.
It did leave her wondering why her.
Parvella had claimed that Sophie was powerful but had no control, whereas she had control but no power.
But the Raven Queen had both.
Why not the Raven Queen?
If Parvella was here in the city, that suggested the Raven Queen was here as well. And if that were the case, then it seemed to Sophie that the Raven Queen should be the one to place the protections around the city.
Unless something had happened to her.
Or…
Another possibility crept into Sophie’s mind, and it was one that left her a bit more worried. Maybe more worried than she needed to be. What if Parvella was a part of what was happening?
And, she worried, what if Parvella wanted Sophie for her power so that she could somehow preclude the Raven Queen from reaching the city while she did whatever she intended?
Sophie had never had any reason to doubt Parvella, but she had always been stern, and a bit violent. More than that, she had been the one to suggest that there was somebody else involved.
That is what the guilty person in every story does.
Sophie wished that she knew where Thea had gone.
She trusted Thea, but then again, Sophie tended to trust Karell, because they had helped her as often as they had. If she could find her, or other Karell…
Where were they?
More importantly, where were those who could protect the city?
She paused for a moment, then raced through the garden to reach the gate on the far side. She pushed it open and stepped out into the streets. They were strangely empty. That was unusual. There was an odd power about as well, though she wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe that was what Dannith had advised her against going near.
She raced through the streets, heading toward the barracks. The Taihg. That was who she needed to find. There had to be somebody there who could help, and maybe somebody she could warn about what she had detected. Maybe there was somebody there who had a way of reaching the Raven Queen.
When Sophie reached the barracks, she slowed and found them empty, much like the rest of the city.
There would be no help from the Taihg.
She continued onward. She reached the edge of the city. Most of the outskirts of the city contained smaller stone buildings that were primarily homes, though there were a few shops scattered around here as well. The buildings were spaced farther apart than those deeper into the city, and there wasn’t the same sense of age as most of the buildings closer to the tower had. Not only the sense of age, but those older buildings had a sense of energy as well.
